“Tech Knowledge agrees with Chairman Pai’s opposition to a nationalized 5G network. From its ill-fated attempt to nationalize railroads during the First World War to today’s ‘below-standard’ grade for U.S. infrastructure, our government has a dismal track record in this area.

The U.S. should not make the same mistake as Australia, whose bungled attempt at building a nationalized wholesale network turned that country into a broadband backwater. More than a century of experience has proven that government-operated networks don’t work.”

Tech Knowledge promotes market-oriented technology policies on behalf of the public interest. Additional information about Tech Knowledge can be found on our website, techknowledge.center.

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Democrats appear ready to make “net neutrality” an election issue in 2018. They plan to introduce a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to force Congress to take an up-or-down vote on the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) decision replacing the Democrats’ approach to internet governance.

Some see this as a “clear-cut political win-win for Dems.” In their view, an up-or-down vote means only one of two things: either (1) Democrats preserve their preferred approach to net neutrality or (2) Republicans side with “telecom companies against the [alleged] will of the American people.” This strategy invokes Noam Chomsky’s theory that “the smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum….”

Chomsky’s theory spotlights the means of defeating it: Republicans should refuse to accept the alleged dichotomy of action presented by a CRA vote. To paraphrase former President Reagan, the Democrats are counting on Republicans to be passive. It is up to Republicans to ensure the Democrats are counting wrong. To do that, Republicans should reclaim the moral high ground in the internet regulation debate by breaking the Obama FCC’s strict—and nonsensical—limits on the prevailing definition of “net neutrality.”

A free market approach to net neutrality would embrace broader principles of internet governance based on traditional consumer protections—including privacy—that apply equally to all similarly-situated internet companies. An approach to internet regulation grounded in traditional consumer protection and constitutional limits would transcend today’s artificially restricted version of the debate by giving voters a third option for net neutrality, while remaining true to conservative and free market principles. Read More

“Tech Knowledge supports a legislative approach to net neutrality that embraces broader principles of internet governance based on traditional consumer protections, including online privacy, that apply equally to all similarly-situated internet companies. Unfortunately, those in Congress who continue to insist on strict regulation of ISPs that exempt so-called edge providers are ignoring serious consumer concerns about privacy and the growing monopoly power of tech giants in Silicon Valley to control online content. An approach to internet regulation grounded in traditional consumer protection and constitutional limits would transcend today’s artificially restrictive and anticompetitive version of the net neutrality debate while remaining true to free market principles that drive innovation and investment.”

Tech Knowledge promotes market-oriented technology policies on behalf of the public interest. Additional information about Tech Knowledge can be found on our website, techknowledge.center.

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“Tech Knowledge applauds the FCC for repealing the Obama administration’s bureaucratic power grab over internet regulation. Our elected representatives in Congress should decide the fundamentals of how the internet is regulated, not unelected bureaucrats at the FCC. Today’s action puts that responsibility squarely on the shoulders of Congress where it belongs.”

Tech Knowledge promotes market-oriented technology policies on behalf of the public interest. Additional information about Tech Knowledge can be found on our website, techknowledge.center.

“The repeated racist attacks against FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and his family in their own home during the holiday weekend are horrific. The perpetrators of this villainy should be ashamed. These attacks aren’t net neutrality advocacy. They are terrorism.”

Tech Knowledge promotes market-oriented technology policies on behalf of the public interest. Additional information about Tech Knowledge can be found on our website, techknowledge.center.

“Tech Knowledge welcomes the FCC’s open and transparent effort to repeal the last administration’s unconstitutional net neutrality rules. In the absence of a market failure, the constitution doesn’t permit the FCC to treat the information superhighway or any other institution of the press like a public utility. This foundational principle of our system of government must be restored.”

Tech Knowledge promotes market-oriented technology policies on behalf of the public interest. Additional information about Tech Knowledge can be found on our website, techknowledge.center.

Antitrust and media experts were surprised last week when the Department of Justice (DOJ) leaked its staff’s opposition to the AT&T-Time Warner merger. The surprise is summed up by Ed Lee, managing editor at Recode, who told CNBC that AT&T “has a slam dunk court case” against the Justice Department. If the agency decides to pursue staff’s recommendation, it’s likely to lose in federal court and the court of public opinion.

Most antitrust challenges involve mergers between companies that serve the same customers (“horizontal” mergers), like Walgreens’ attempt to acquire Rite Aid, because horizontal mergers eliminate a competitive choice from the marketplace. The AT&T-Time Warner deal is a “vertical” merger of companies who don’t serve the same set of customers — Time Warner creates programming to sell to distributors and AT&T distributes programming to consumers.

Challenges to vertical mergers are rare because the number of competitive choices for each set of customers remains the same. To successfully challenge this vertical merger, DOJ would need to show that the combined company would have sufficient market power to foreclose rival video distributors from accessing Time Warner content or rival programmers from accessing AT&T’s distribution network. Precedent, economic theory, and empirical evidence make it unlikely that the DOJ could prove the combined company would have sufficient market power to engage in either foreclosure strategy. Read More

Its ordinarily understandable when a journalist makes a technical mistake regarding network topologies. But the ordinary benefit of the doubt doesn’t apply to TechCrunch’s mistaken accusation that the FCC’s analysis of net neutrality “deliberately” misrepresents how the internet works. When a publication puts “tech” in its name, it ought to know better, especially when the issue involves the relationship between network topologies and legal definitions. Read More

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“Today’s vote is the first step in returning to the light-touch regulatory approach that yielded the broadband internet. Light-touch regulation has a proven track record of protecting consumers while promoting competition and investment in broadband networks and maximizing innovation. Read More

“I applaud Chairman Pai’s decision to use an open and transparent process for reversing Obama’s decision to snatch political control over the internet using net neutrality as an excuse. It was an act of extraordinary bravery for Pai to start this process, and it will take an iron will for him to stand up to the Silicon Valley giants that seek to squash his plan. If they succeed, America will never be great again.

Today’s speech sets the stage for a David and Goliath battle between Pai and Google, the richest and most powerful corporation the world has ever known. Obama’s net neutrality rules were designed to support Google’s business interests, and Google will throw all its strength behind them.

It’s impossible to overstate the Google Goliath’s strength. Its power goes far beyond the massive amounts it spends on lobbying and its work on behalf of the Obama and Hillary Clinton political campaigns.

Google’s monopoly over internet advertising also gives it unseemly influence over the opinions of mainstream media. The thousands of newspapers, TV stations, and other media that rely on Google’s advertising network for a substantial portion of their revenue streams cannot afford to oppose Google on net neutrality.

That’s why Pai’s speech took so much courage. Both the mainstream media and the world’s richest corporations will be against him.

Americans who believe in free speech, freedom of the press, and fair competition cannot let him stand alone. Pai is internet freedom’s David. At this hour, we must stand by Pai.”

Tech Knowledge promotes market-oriented technology policies on behalf of the public interest. Additional information about Tech Knowledge can be found on our website, techknowledge.center.